A Valparaiso, Indiana man has been charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual battery after he allegedly sexually assaulted on multiple times, several mentally disabled women after leading them during a Bible study.
According to the Chicago Tribune, 23-year-old Thomas Cooperider of Liberty Bible Church in Chesterton reportedly committed the acts between November 2014 and March of 2015 on the church grounds.
In a May 8 interview with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department, Cooperider, began his statement by stating, “Everything that did happen was consensual between adults.”
However, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported that all of the women have varying degrees of mental disability, one of whom has a functioning IQ of 57. The three women’s guardians contacted church officials, who in turn went to the police. All three of the victims say that Cooperider led them to secluded areas of the church and touched them without their permission.
Cooperider was barred from church property as of May 4 after the victims’ guardians met with police.
If convicted, Cooperider could face up to 16 years in prison on each of the two felony rape charges and up to two years and six months on each of the three felony sexual battery charges against him.
Culled from Raw Story
